The odors emanating from a toilet may linger some time before being extracted from the bathroom by a room exhaust fan or through natural airflow. Typically, room exhaust fans are mounted to either the wall or the ceiling of a bathroom, and they redirect this malodorous air out of the room and building. Usually, these fans are positioned too far from the source to immediately remove the offending air. These odors may fully diffuse throughout the bathroom and beyond before being drawn out through the exhaust fan.
Strategic placement of the bathroom exhaust fan can be beneficial in many applications. Too often, though, positioning of the fan is dictated by structural limitations which may or may not limit effectiveness. Moreover, even though placement may be closer to the toilet, the fans are sometimes too small or too underpowered to be entirely effective. Thus, undesirable permeation of the malodorous air still presents a problem.
Attempts have been made to alleviate this problem by mounting a venting device directly to the toilet assembly. Generally, these devices position a ventilation intake duct near the back portion of the toilet bowl. This intake duct is coupled, by flexible piping, to an exhaust fan mounted proximate the toilet which vents the air to a generally exterior location outside the structure.
Typical of prior art toilet ventilation devices are the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,365,361 to Sanstrom and 3,277,499 to Keefauver, each of which describes a ventilation device having an intake duct positioned near the toilet bowl and a remote fan coupled to the intake duct by flexible piping.
While these ventilation devices have been effective in removing toilet odors, such an approach becomes problematic when water, urine, water vapor or the combination thereof enter the intake ducts and thereafter reach the exhaust fan. In particular, when the toilet is flushed, the swirling action or the impingement of the reservoir water against the toilet bowl often spatters the water which collects in the intake vents. Accordingly, the suction of the exhaust fan draws the water or water vapor through the piping where it collides with the exhaust fan. This causes premature wear and deteriorates the bearings and other components of the fan. Reliability of such ventilation systems, therefore, is often decreased while maintenance costs are increased.
Another problem associated with the above-mentioned toilet ventilation systems is that the actuation device for activating the fan is often positioned proximate the toilet seat or toilet bowl. For example, these devices generally include mechanical switches positioned in or near the pivotal seat which activates the fan when the user sits down on the seat. These activation devices run the risk of electrically shorting when contacted with water. Furthermore, spattered water may deteriorate the switch itself. More importantly, these activation mechanisms present potential electrical hazards because their power source is often the household 110 VAC.
Still other problems persist with prior toilet ventilation systems. They generally cannot be retrofit to existing toilets without substantial modification or integration. Often replacement or removal of the toilet seat or bowl is necessary so that the device may be installed. The assembly of the Keefauver patent, for example, requires replacement of the toilet seat with a special one incorporating resilient bumpers which prevent transmission of any twisting stresses on the intake duct housing. The Sanstrom assembly, on the other hand, requires removal of the toilet bowl so that it may be mounted to a special platform which allows the exhausted air to be directed down the flushing drain.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toilet ventilation apparatus which removes malodorous air originating from toilet.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toilet ventilation apparatus which substantially removes fluids from the air intake to prevent the fluids from contacting the exhaust fan.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a toilet ventilation apparatus which increases the reliability and life expectancy of the air extraction device.
Yet another object of the present invention to provide a toilet ventilation apparatus which can be easily retrofit to existing toilets with minimal effort.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toilet ventilation apparatus which reduces submission to electrical hazards.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an optical analyzing apparatus and method which is durable, compact, easy to maintain, has a minimum number of components, is easy to use by unskilled personnel, and is economical to manufacture.
The apparatus and method of the present invention has other objects and features of advantage which will be more readily apparent from the following description of the Best Mode of Carrying Out the Invention and the appended claims, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.